Bottle seal cutter



July 28, 1959 v. A. VAlVE BOTTLE SEAL CUTTER Filed March 28, 1958INVENTOR 176708 A. V/l/VE ATTORNEY it Sites Ptent BOTTLE SEAL CUTTERVictor Alex Vaive, Highland Park, Mich. Application March 28, 1958,Serial No. 724,766

1 Claim. (Cl. 30--1.5)

This invention relates to seal-opening means, and it particularlyrelates to a device for cutting the plastic, sleeve-1ike seals placedaround the necks of many bottles such as those containing spices,condiments or liquors.

Heretofore, it has been the practice for someone wishing to break theseal around the neck of a bottle to at tempt to pry it oif or tear itoh. by using a fingernail, or a knife, or a fork, etc. However, the sealis usually so firmly adhered that it is most diflicult to pry it away bysuch make-shift means and often the instrument slips and injures thefingers or the broken or torn seal has jagged edges which cut thefingers.

It is one object of the present invention to overcome the abovedifiiculties by providing a device which simply, easily and effectivelycuts through the seals on bottle necks.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a seal cuttingdevice which is simple in construction and easy to use.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide an improved sealcutting device, of the character described, that is easily andeconomically'produced, which is sturdy in construction, and which ishighly efiicient in operation. I

With the above and related objects in view, this invention consists inthe details of construction and combination of parts, as will be morefully understood from the following description, when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational View of a device embodying the presentinvention, the device being applied to a seal around the neck of abottle.

Fig. 2 is top plan view of the device of Fig. l with parts broken awayto show the construction of the cutting means.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawing wherein similar referencecharacters refer to similar parts, there is shown a bottle neck having aplastic, sleeve-type seal 12 around which is positioned a cutter device,generally designated 14.

The cutter device 14 comprises a ring-shaped body made of any desirablematerial such as metal, vinyl plastic, etc. and designated 16. Thering-shaped body 16 has an inner periphery 18 and an outer periphery 20between flat end walls, the inner periphery defining an aperture of anydesired diameter to fit the particular neck of the bottle to be opened.

At one portion of the ring-shaped body 16 is provided a peripheral slot22 adjacent one end of which is provided a pivot pin 24 extendingparallel to the axis of the ring-shaped body 16. Pivotally mounted onpin 24 is a sector shaped blade 26 movably positioned in slot 22. Atorsion spring 28 surrounds the pin 24 and has one end connected to theadjacent portion of the blade 26. The other end of the torsion spring 28is engaged against a shoulder 30 formed in the wall defining theadjacent end of the slot 22. In this manner, the spring 30 acts to biasthe blade 26 to the open position shown in full line in Fig. 2.

The end of the blade 26 opposite the pivot pin 24' is provided at itsinner edge with a knife point 32; this knife point 32 is adapted toextend through the slot 22 in the inner periphery 18 when the blade 26is pressed into the operative position indicated in dotted outline inFig. 2.

In order to limit the blade 26 in its pivotal movement, the blade isprovided with an arcuate slot 36 through which extends a guide pin 38fixed to the body 16 and extending in a plane parallel to the axis ofthe body 16. This fixed pin 3% acts to limit the blade in its pivotalmovement toward and from the operative position.

In operation, the device 14 is applied over the sealed bottle neck, inthe manner indicated in Fig. 1, and then the blade 26 is pressed in witha finger so that the knife point 32 extends through slot 22 and piercesthe seal 12 as shown at 34. Then, while still holding the blade pressedin, the device is rotated relative to the bottle neck 10 until acomplete out has been made around the seal. The blade 26 is thenreleased and is immediately brought back into the open position by thespring 28. The device is then removed and the severed sections of theseal can then be removed or allowed to remain on the bottle. Even ifleft on the bottle, the cap or cork closure can be removed because ofthe relative movement permitted between the severed parts of the seal.When the closure is removed, one of the severed parts of the seal goesalong with the closure while the other part remains on the bottle neck.

Although this invention has been described in con siderable detail, suchdescription is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting,since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of theinvention is to be determined as claimed.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention what isclaimed is:

A bottle seal opening device comprising a flat annular body having flatend walls and an inner and an outer circular periphery between said fiatend walls, a blade housing slot extending through both peripheriesmidway between said flat end walls, a sector shaped blade having twostraight sides and an arcuate side pivotally mounted by a pin in saidbody extending in an axial direction between said flat end walls througha pivot opening adjacent the apex angle between said straight sides ofsaid sector-shaped blade, a knife edge on said blade on the straightsector side extendable through said inner periphery, and a fingerpressure receiving dull edge on the opposite straight sector sideextendable through said outer periphery, limit means for said bladecomprising a second pin in said body through said blade housing slotparallel to said pivot pin extending through an arcuate slot in saidblade concentric with said pivot pin, and a torsion spring about saidpivot pin having one end abutting said blade on the sharp edge side andthe other end abutting a Wall of said blade housing slot in said bodynormally resisting the pivoting of said blade inwardly through saidinner periphery and urging said blade outwardly therefrom, whereby saidannular body may be placed in either direction about a bottle cap sealand rotated relative to said seal in a direction toward said blade pivotpin while said blade is pressed inwardly through said inner periphery tocircumferentially cut the bottle seal.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

